Roast Chicken w/ Soy Ginger Marinade and a Gourmet Sandwich To Go

I love making Roast Chicken on Sundays. You don't mind getting up from reading the Sunday paper or watching an old movie to baste it every 15 minutes. It's an easy thing to make, it makes the whole house smell great, and there are always leftovers so you can make chicken salad or soup. This Sunday it was especially nice to have leftovers because my boyfriend was flying to San Francisco that night and I wanted to make him a nice sandwich which he would be happy to have when they came around offering lame snacks like Terra Chips (no offense to Terra Chips but that's not exactly a meal). I'm sure the person sitting next to him was jealous.

Roast Chicken with Soy Ginger Marinade
I love this recipe because you don't have to use ANY butter. Believe it or not, sometimes I like to take a break from the butter. Basting with the marinade is a much healthier alternative.


Ingredients:

For the chicken:
A 3-5 lb. chicken (organic if possible)
1 lemon, quartered
A handful of fresh thyme sprigs

For the marinade: (this marinade is also great for cornish game hens)
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup sugar
About 1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped (make it easy on yourself - grate the ginger on a cheese grater)
1 tsp. corn starch

How to:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

For the Marinade:
1. Pour all marinade ingredients into a sauce pan and stir over low heat until sugar has melted down.


For the Roast Chicken:
1. Remove the giblets from the chicken and discard.
2. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Pat dry with paper towels.
3. Insert the quartered lemon and the thyme sprigs in the cavity of the chicken.
4. Baste the chicken with the marinade and put in oven.
5. Baste the chicken every 15 minutes.
6. Chicken should be cooked 25 minutes for each pound or until a meat thermometer registers 170 degrees in the breast meat and 185 degrees in the thigh meat.


You won't get this on Jet Blue.

For the Cumin Chicken Salad Sandwich:
1. Cut the remaining chicken into nice bite-size chunks.
2. Add 2 - 4 tablespoons of mayonnaise depending how much chicken you have leftover (just add enough to make the chicken salad moist).
3. Add some chopped celery (again, depends on how much chicken you are using but typically a couple of tablespoons will do).
4. Add 2-4 tablespoons of cumin.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Get a nice loaf of multi-grain bread if possible. Slice nice thick slices.
7. Layer salad greens on bread slices to keep bread from getting soggy.
8. Add the chicken salad (and tomatoes if you like).
Sandwich Alternative: Instead of cumin, I often add curry powder, sliced grapes and walnuts.